How CrossFit Oslo has Become One of the Deepest Boxes in the World

Norway’s CrossFit Oslo has made history: They have become the first affiliate to qualify six to Semifinals. Factor in that seven of their individuals will also be competing, and they have undoubtedly become one of the deepest boxes for elite CrossFit athletes in the world. The Oslo crew: CrossFit Oslo’s individual Semifinals athletes include 2022 CrossFit Games rookies Matilde Garnes and Seher Kaya, as well as 2020 Games athlete Andrea Solberg, while their teams are led by CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue, second overall at last summer’s Games, and whose entire team is returning this season hoping to win it all. Rounding out their Semifinals roster are individuals—19-year-old Leah Storen, Verena Reimers, Nicole Heer and Victor Helsinghof—as well as five other hungry teams hoping to snag an invite to Madison, WI this summer. This content is available exclusively to Members Become an member and start enjoying full access to all our community and sports content, and an ad-free experience. PROMO Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive 15% WIT discount $1 per month for the first 4 months, $8 each month after Get Started for $1 Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive private Facebook Group Regular coffee breaks hang outs Exclusive 15% WIT discount Get Started $5/month billed annually Already a member? Log In. The Kristin Holte Factor Two-and-a-half years ago, coach Joakim Rygh and his athlete, eight-time Games standout Kristin Holte, founded Kriger Training, whose programming is followed by the majority of CrossFit Oslo Semifinal athletes today. Rygh, though, is humble. He doesn’t credit his programming so much as he credits Holte, as well as CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue’s success, with helping propel so many athletes in their 800-member gym to the next level of fitness. “Kristin was always such a good role model. She put a lot of effort into small, small details, and this has contributed a lot,” he said, adding that Holte’s attention to detail has worn off on the current athletes at the gym. But more than anything, Holte has been living proof that it’s possible to reach the pinnacle of the sport. “It’s actually possible if you really go all in,” Rygh said of Holte’s influence. “That makes it easier (for others) to say, ‘Ok I’ll go all in for a few years and see where it take me.’” Holte is now retired and pregnant with her first child, but she has continued to help the CrossFit Oslo crew all season. She has been actively helping Rygh with CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue, is Heer’s personal coach, and has been offering mental coaching to any CrossFit Oslo athlete who needs her help, which Rygh said has been a huge game changer. “It’s easy to find a mental coach, but it’s hard to find a mental coach who has been where you are right now…It’s so good for them,” he said. All in all, the result is a gym who is sending an unprecedented six teams, and a total of 31 athletes, to Semifinals this season. Navigating the Talent To select their six teams this season, CrossFit Oslo didn’t put out a massive gym-wide talent search, nor have they ranked any of their teams. Instead, the teams formed somewhat organically, Rygh explained. Coach Simon Aaslund did provide what Rygh called “a proposal” at the start of the season in terms of who the coaches thought would make good teams, but that was just a starting point. After that, the athletes had a certain amount of autonomy to decide who they wanted to compete with. “The most important thing is that the athletes work well together,” Rygh said. Logistics also played a big role in determining the makeup of each team. For example, many of the team athletes aren’t full-time athletes and work during the day, so training schedules factored in, as well. 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But, as competitive as the Oslo athletes are, they’re one big family who put the CrossFit Oslo name first, and go out of their way to help each other out. “Even though everyone is competitive, it’s still one gym and we are always trying to help each other to get better. All the athletes are so good with each other,” Rygh added. CrossFit Oslo’s pressing current challenge, however, is figuring out how each team will be properly looked after at Semifinals. Right now, the six teams have four main coaches: Rygh, Aaslund—who is also Garnes’ and Storen’s personal coach—Lars Fredrik Gylseth and Leif Erik Gladstadh. But heading into Semifinals, each team will need a personal coach in their corner, so the Oslo coaching team is in the process of figuring out how they’re going to make this happen. “It’s really hard (for a coach) to split attention between two teams, so there will be one coach for every team. We’re still trying to sort it all out,” Rygh said. Looking to Semifinals On paper, Rygh said he thinks “at least four” of the CrossFit Oslo teams have a legitimate chance to qualify to the Games this summer, but admitted that some will have to be “lucky with the programming” in order to punch their tickets. And while the more CrossFit Oslo athletes who qualify the better, Rygh has also learned not to put too much pressure on them, as it can lead to focusing on the wrong things. “There are a lot of teams and athletes here who have the Games ticket as their ultimate goal, but it’s so hard to use that as a way to (measure) success…because you can’t control what everyone else does,” he said. In light of this, Rygh’s only focus is on preparing his athletes as best as possible and letting the chips fall where they may. “We just need to control what we can control…and we should be happy with our performance,” he said.

How CrossFit Oslo has Become One of the Deepest Boxes in the World

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